The invention relates to a device for the contactless transfer of electrical energy from at least one power cable carrying electrical energy which is laid alongside a stationary rail of a transport system, to a movable element that can be driven along the rail, which element has a transfer head working inductively together with the power cable, with at least one carrier element fixed in a releasable manner to the rail, which element has a holder for the power cable.
Transport systems of the type considered here are known in various embodiments. One prominent example of this are electrically powered suspension railways in which the individual cars suspended from a carrier rail move along the carrier rail driven by a motor. In all these cases, it is necessary to transfer the electrical energy of the moving element required to operate, in particular to drive it, from a stationary power cable laid alongside the rail, to the movable element. In the past, this has mostly been effected by sliding contactors which are fixed to the moving element and which slide along a stationary power rail that is accessible from the outside and which serves as a power cable. The disadvantage is that spark formation cannot always be reliably prevented, which is not acceptable especially in environments at risk from explosions. In addition, dust is generated by the sliding contacts which can also not be tolerated in many fields of application, particularly in painting technology.
For these reasons, there are also transport systems of the above kind in which the electrical operating power is transferred inductively—that is contactlessly—from the stationary power cable to the moving element. In this case, spark formation and contaminating dust are reliably prevented. With these systems, however, there is the question of how the power cable can be laid against the guide rail. In known contactless energy transfer transport systems this is done with the aid of a large number of individual clips which are fixed with elastic mountings onto the rail at intervals of approximately 15 cm. The individual clips have connecting openings through which the power cable has to be “threaded”. This “threading” is a task that has to be done by hand and involves considerable expenditure. In addition, loops of the power cable hang down between the individual clips and can under unfavourable conditions make contact with the transfer heads of the passing moving elements and can thus suffer abrasion.